Railway-rail.



*No. 768,577. PATENTED AUG. 30, 1904.

T. G. AULTMAN.'

RAILWAY RAIL. APPLIQATION FILED JAN. 7. 1904.

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luvonfoz 61 Mommy for this purpose.

UNITED STATES Patented August 30, 1904.

PATENT- OFFICE. I

JOSEPH A. JEFFREY,

OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

RAILWAY-RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent to. 768,577, dated. August so, 1904.

Application filed January '7, 1904. Serial No. 188,132. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS G.. AULTMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairmont,in the county of Marion and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Railsof which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in rack-railwaysthat is to say, railways of the class wherein use is made of a'station'ary rackrail device with which engages a power-driven toothed wheel, the propulsion of the car or locomotive being effected by the wheel and rack either continuously or intermittingly. The invention pertains more particularly to improvements in the rails that are used Heretofore use has been made of rails or racks of several sorts, including strips or plates of sheet metal, in which are formed apertures for sprocket engagement with the teeth of the car propellingwheel. An object aimed at in the use of metal of this sort is to cheapen to the utmost extent possible the cost of the rail or rack element of the system; but it has been found that when sheet metal has been used for this purpose it is subjected to such strainsand wear as to be rapidly deteriorated and impaired. The present invention aims to so reinforce and strengthen those parts of the metal which receive the Wear and strains from the teeth of the driving Wheel or wheels that the life of the rack for operative purposes shall be indefinitely prolonged.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a track system embodying my improvements, showing the skeleton framework and driving parts of a locomotive adapted to traverse said track system. Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing a locomotive and portions of track system in dotted lines and portions of my improved rack-rail in vertical longitudinal section. Fig. Sis a vertical transverse section through my improved track-rail. Figs. 4: and 5 are vertical longitudinal sections of a piece of my improved rack-rail, showing the method of inserting the reinforcing devices. Fig. 6 is a perspective of one style of reinforcing devices. Fig. 7 is a modified form of reinforcing de- Vice.

In the drawings a railway system is shown more or less conventionally, there being rails at A, Which may be of any of the ordinary sorts. well adapted for use in the railway systems employed in coal-mines and other mines, I will im'ore particularly refer to a system of that sort; but it will be understood that the invention can be applied to other railway systems.

Inasmuch as the present invention is- B indicates as an entirety an electric locomotive such as used for hauling mine-cars.

incident thereto there can be numerous modi fications without affecting the essential features of the invention.

D is, the stationary rail or rack element which coacts with the toothed Wheel C. It is pref:

erably arranged on lines longitudinal of the track and between the rails A A, as shown.

It is preferably formed as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, in which case it is made in sections of suitable length. Each section is formed by bending a strip or plate of sheet or rolled metal so as to produce a cross-section of the form shown 1n Flg. 3. There are foot-flanges at E E adapted to be engaged by the headsv of spikes driven into the main ties or sleepers which support the rails or to receive other fastening means.

F F are walls or suitable uprights which rise upward and are approximately perpendicular, though they may be somewhat inclined, if desired.

. Gr isthe top plate connecting the two vertical parts F F. In this plate G are formed apertures H, which are of sufficient size to properly receive the teeth of the driving-wheel C, the distance from one aperture to the next corresponding to the pitch of the said teeth. The rail being of the shape above described has the plate Gr elevated sufliciently'to permit the free entrance and movements of the teeth.

It is desirable to employ as thin and light sheet metal as possible for the rolling or otherwise producing of the section of the rackrail D in order to reduce to a minimum the cost of a track system of this sort; but thin sheet metal is objectionable, inasmuch as it tears, breaks, and Wears rapidly under the strains exerted by the driving-wheel C of the locomotive. Thus not only is the rack-rail rapidly and seriously weakened, but, moreover, the pitch relations between the wheel and the rack-apertures are impaired and effective operation of the driving-wheel is prevented. To overcome this, I employ strengthening and reinforcing devices, such as illustrated at I. These, as shown, are castings, which are respectively inserted into the apertures H and secured in position so as to receive the contact and wear of the drivingteeth. They are preferably made of malleable metal, so that they can be bent or upset sufficiently to secure a firm hold upon the rail at the edges of the apertures. In cases where the wear and Work are experienced at one edge only of the aperturesas, for instance, where the rail is placed upon a very steep gradethe rail will be sufliciently strengthened if the reinforcing part is applied to one edge only of the aperture; but under ordinary circumstances I prefer to so shape the reinforcing device that it will form a guard and cover for both the front and rear edges of its sprocket-aperture. This reinforcing device may be secured in any suitable way. Lips, such as shown at J, can be provided and the material being malleable will permit their being bent sufficiently under the edges of the sheet metal to secure the reinforcing device in position, or the walls or faces at K K may be left unbent, and the fastening may be effected by means of clamp-flanges L, adapted to be clenched or upsetagainst the edges of the apertures. By making these reinforcing parts separate from the sheet they can be shaped so as to conform to the requirements of perfect gearing to an extent greater than is obtainable with the mere cut edges of the sheet. These reinforcing devices are preferably made so as to be readily detached as, for instance, in case they become worn to such an extent as to impair their proper pitch relations with the drivingwheel-and new ones can be substituted.

I am aware of the fact that it has been proposed to protect and strengthen the cut edges of the sprocket-apertures in sheet-metal rackrails by duplicating the metal sheets that is to say, employing two sheets, one superposed upon the other and each having tongues of sheet metal bent downward at the points of sprocket engagement, the upper sheet being secured to the lower by bolts and nuts and also secured along its edges between wooden stringers; but, as stated above, the primary object of this invention is to attain the greatest possible cheapness, and for this the use of two expensive wrought-metal sheets, one superposed upon the other, is prohibitive both as a matter of initial cost and for permitting of repairs. By following the plan that I have devised it is merely necessary to furnish small, cheap, isolated castingsfor the single sheet at a cost much less than that of duplicating the wrought-metal sheet and placing one upon another. If one of the reinforces should become impaired, it is only necessary to remove it and substitute another, whereas under the older plan it was necessary to remove an upper sheet of considerable length even though only one of its clips or bends was broken or impaired.

What I claim is- 1. In a rack-rail traction system, a rail formed of sheetmetal having a series of apertures or passages for the teeth of a vehicle propelling-wheel and a series of reinforcing devices each situated at one of said apertures or passages and secured independently of the others to the sheet metal at the cut edges of its aperture at the points of engagement with the driving-teeth, substantially as set forth.

2. In a rack-rail traction system, a rack-rail formed of sheet metal having a series of apertures or passages for the teeth of a vehicle driving-wheel and a series of reinforcing devices one for each of said apertures riveted or upset to lock it in place adjacent to the cut edges of said apertures, substantially as set forth.

3. In a rack-rail traction system, a rack-rail formed of a sheet of wrought metal having a series of apertures or passages for the teeth of a vehicle driving-wheel and a series of reinforcing devices formed of cast malleable metal one for each of said apertures, the wrought sheet and the reinforcing devices being locked together by bends in the malleable metal, substantially as set forth.

I. In a rack-rail traction system, a rack-rail formed of a sheet of wrought metal having a series of apertures or passages for the teeth of a vehicle propelling-whee] and a series ol' reinforcing devices each having a part lying above the wrought sheet and a part lying horizontally under the wrought sheet at points adjacent to its aperture whereby the metal adjacent to the edges of the apertures holds the reinforcing device against disphuaement vertically, substantially as set forth.

5. In a rack-rail traction system, a rack-rail formed of a sheet of wrought metal bent to have a top plate, one or more downwardlytop wall G, the vertical walls F and the footfiange E, the top wall being formed with apertures and provided with detachable reinforcing devices for the operative edges of the said apertures, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

THOMAS G. AULTMAN. Witnesses:

THos; N. .PARKs, E. Z. SALTER. 

